Mushfiqur announces retirement from ODIs

Bangladesh’s veteran cricketer Mushfiqur Rahim has retired from ODI cricket. He announced this in a status on Facebook on Wednesday. Mushfiqur has been suffering from a run drought in ODIs for a long time. His bat did not smile even in the last Champions Trophy. In total, this experienced batsman, who has scored only 1 fifty in the last 15 ODIs, was questioning his place in the national team. Discussions about when he will bid farewell to ODIs also started recently. Now Mushfiqur himself has bid farewell to ODIs.

In the status announcing his retirement, Mushfiqur wrote, ‘I am announcing my retirement from the ODI format from today. Alhamdulillah, I am grateful for everything. Our achievements in world cricket may be limited, but one thing is certain – whenever I have stepped onto the field wearing the jersey of my country, I have played with more than 100%, with honesty and dedication. The last few weeks have been very difficult for me, and it was during this time that I realized – this is my destiny.’

He also wrote, ‘Finally, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my family, friends and all the fans for whose love I have played cricket for the last 19 years.’

Mushfiqur played his first ODI against Zimbabwe in 2006. After that, he became the hope of the Tigers’ middle order. For which he was called ‘Mr. Dependable’. However, Mushfiqur has not been in that familiar rhythm for a long time. After being dismissed for a duck against India in the last Champions Trophy, he scored only 2 runs against New Zealand. He had to endure a scolding from head coach Phil Simmons for the way he was dismissed against the Kiwis.

Mushfiqur has scored 7,795 runs in 274 ODIs for the country, including 9 centuries and 49 fifties. Only Tamim Iqbal (8,357) has scored more runs in ODIs than him.

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